Windsor's blight being documented by online group

A Windsor, Ont., woman is leading an online groupdocumenting all the vacant and unused properties in the city.

Katheryn Tisdale recently launched 'Windsor's Vacant Lots and Buildings' on Facebook, where people are posting pictures of vacant buildings, empty lots and blighted properties.

"I think there's a human nature to not want to see [blight]," Tisdale said on CBC Radio's Windsor Morning. "I've been guilty of driving by sections of the city that are blighted and have chosen not to let that become the memory I take home with me."

The pictures aren't limited to one neighbourhood or area. There are currently about 80 pictures on the site, showing properties all over the city.

They include the former Abars bar, which recently closed on Riverside Drive, the old J.L Forster secondary school in Sandwich Towne and buildings thatburned down but have not yet been cleared.

"I've seen them all, but I haven't seen them together," Tisdale explained. "I haven't seen how bad it really is because I haven't been looking for it."

"We have a lot of buildings already too many buildings already," she said. "We have too many because we've been expanding the size of the city without any population growth. That doesn't make sense."

There are 115 members in the group posting pictures.

"It isn't our intention to identify or shame any property owners, our intention is simply to make us all more mindful and to help us all make the connection between continual sprawl development and the increasing holes in our city," the site says.

Some commenting on the site say they want city council to see the photos and take action.

The group has already caught the attention of Ward 4 Coun. Chris Holt.

Speaking on Windsor Morning, Holt said he appreciates the group's efforts and hopes it can change the discussion about further development in Windsor.

He said he wants to see incentives offered to encourage people to develop or redevelop vacant properties in the city.

"I get a lot of hope from the people posting these photographs," Holt said. "These are people decidedly committed to the city of Windsor. They're really posting the photos to say, 'Look at these opportunities we have here around us.'"